Boris Johnson has resigned from his Cabinet job as Foreign Secretary, Downing Street has said.

The announcement of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP's shock decision to quit was made on Monday afternoon (July 9).

In a brief statement, a Downing Street spokesman said: "This afternoon, the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. His replacement will be announced shortly. The Prime Minister thanks Boris for his work."

Mr Johnson had been due to attend the Western Balkans Summit in London's Docklands on Monday (July) and to give a press conference at 5pm, but had so far failed to appear by 3pm.

Boris Johnson has quit the cabinet

The resignation follows a day of disappearing by the MP.

Despite reports Boris Johnson had attended a Cobra briefing at the Cabinet Office, his security detail remained parked outside his official residence on Pall Mall by 2.30pm, having arrived just after 8am.

His security team included six police motorcade riders, along with a Land Rover and his official car and were left waiting on his driveway for most of the day.

Officers twice warned journalists the Foreign Secretary was about to leave, only to then say they had been told to stand by.